


darling, your eyes were full of darkness

by cardinal__sin



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel - Freeform, Gun Violence, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Swearing, ask to tag, basically a rewrite of the vault scene to include some jackothy, hi im a lil tipsy and idk how to tag this, i guess jgsjfhsdgfsd, jack's villain origin story?, um
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:35:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28052535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cardinal__sin/pseuds/cardinal__sin
Summary: Tim remained silent for a few moments. This was not his Jack. This couldn’t be his Jack. This man was so different, only resembling the man Tim had grown to like, or, god forbid, love, in appearance. This was… A monster. A monster Lilith had created. Tim would kill her for it, wipe her and her lackeys off the face of the planet as revenge for killing his Jack. Until then…“Yes, Jack,” he whispered, wondering if he was making the greatest mistake of his life, “I’ll be with you.”Maybe he could try to love this new Jack. Maybe he would stop missing the old one, eventually.or: a rewrite of the Vault scene at the end of BL:TPS.
Relationships: Handsome Jack/Timothy Lawrence
Kudos: 7





	darling, your eyes were full of darkness

**Author's Note:**

> i honestly have no idea how to tag this because, uh, i don't write things with action or plot in them that much, so ask if you need something tagged! enjoy!  
> title from haythor by lord of the lost

When Tim had signed up for his job as a doppelgänger, he’d expected PR, public appearances and spreading flattering rumours to take up the majority of his work hours. Being thrown in the middle of Zarpedon’s invasion, rescuing Jack, running around on Elpis with Vault Hunters he barely even knew and eventually being roped into their idiotic mission of finding a fucking Vault – which he barely even knew what it was – for Jack was not exactly in his contract. Then again his contract was vague and mostly just described “do what Jack tells you to do” in legal terms. Technically, all this shit _was_ what he had signed upon.

Now, Tim could deal with bandits, evil robots and beasts of various types and levels of deadliness trying to kill him, hell, he had managed to get used to his Oz kit and using those godforsaken jump pads, but he couldn’t just go through a life with this high of a stress factor with zero amounts of boundaries!

And that was the problem, wasn’t it? Trying and failing at establishing those boundaries, those lines he wasn’t to cross under any circumstances, because he valued his life more than a paycheck, however hefty it was. He had messed up almost each one of them, starting with _don’t be attracted to your fucking boss_ , and ending with _don’t go to the Vault, no matter what Jack tells you to do, you dumb son of a bitch_.

It wasn’t like he had _meant_ to break his own, carefully established rules. He had fully intended to hate Jack’s guts and just collect his pay for doing interviews Jack was too hungover to attend. He had not expected Jack to be charming and outright flirtatious with him, to Athena’s endless amusement and Nisha’s – that was the mean cowgirl’s name, right? – utter dismay. Well. Back then, when things were relatively normal, that was an almost insignificant rule to break.

After that, of course, things had started to spiral out of control. Everything that had led to this moment had just been an ever-escalating shitshow and Tim was starting to have enough of it. There was practically no time to spare between two horrible things happening, and Tim was starting to get worried. Not only about things like their impending death, but also about Jack. He had grown fond of him, and seeing him work so much, running on a couple hours of medicine-induced sleep, hearing his superiors talk to him the way that they did… Tim’s annoyance over his own stupidity and relationship with Jack turned into a genuine worry for a man he never wanted to even like, much less… _love_.

Things were coming to an end though. Moxxi had betrayed them, along with Lilith and Roland, and Tim had been there for Jack, consoling and placating him, trying to keep his spirits up, at least until they found the vault and got revenge. After that, he suspected, Jack would be much too satisfied with his success to care too much about the betrayal.

And they were finally there. Well, _they_ was a bit of an understatement. Athena and Tim were the ones to remain by Jack’s side. Nisha had convinced Fragtrap and Wilhelm to jump ship, somehow. Probably the promise of a neat sum. Probably a lie. Athena had stayed, She was a good mercenary, loyal to whoever hired her until the job was over and done with. And Tim… Tim had his own motivations. Slightly different source of loyalty, still just as selfish. He wanted to stay with Jack.

He would have preferred to be with Jack somewhere else, though. Getting to the vault was a race against time and Lilith, and with half their team gone, they were much less effective with entering and shooting their way through the Lost Legion and the monsters lurking in the underground tunnels. Tim was not having a good time in the slightest. He was tired, mildly injured, and way too stressed in general to get through the Vault’s opening without a moderate-to-severe mental breakdown. Still, he fought through his instincts to get the fuck out of there, and persisted.

Defeating the thing, as Tim called it – the Sentinel, the guardian of the Vault, Jack had explained over their ECHO comms from a safe distance – was decidedly not a fun walk in the park. Whenever Tim had thought they had finally gotten rid of its ugly, alien ass, it attacked again. It had seemed like the more damage they did to it, the stronger it got, eventually becoming so large only its torso was visible above the ground. But they had succeeded. Jack had hollered happily through the comms and a few seconds later teleported in next to them, praising them for a job well done.

Tim had wanted to bask in it, but he was too distracted by the definite lack of loot in the now empty Vault. Jack had talked about wonders unimaginable to the meek human mind, and yet here they were, in a big old empty cave with the only imaginable treasure the glowing Eridium in the cracks of the stone.

“Wait, what? That’s it?” Jack exclaimed suddenly, voice high with disbelief, “That little thing… The hell did –”

Tim turned around to see what he was talking about. Just in front of Jack, maybe two meters away from him, there was a purple, glowing Vault symbol levitating in the air, as though it were the most natural thing for something like that to happen. Tim wanted to laugh. He wanted to just laugh until he had no air left in his lungs because this was ridiculous, this was all fucking ridiculous. They had fought their way through everything down here for that? They had been almost killed by Zarpedon, Moxxi, Lilith and countless others for _that_?

“Jack, what –” Tim started, but Jack waved a dismissive hand at him.

“Shush, cupcake, I have important business to take care of,” he muttered, and stepped toward the symbol. There was a strange type of open curiosity sitting on his features, eyes narrowed, gaze cold and calculating. He was sizing up the symbol, trying to figure out just what it was supposed to be. He wasn’t satisfied but he was interested, and that was almost as bad, if not worse.

Jack’s steps were slow, as though he were in a trance, as he approached the symbol. Tim felt unease creeping up his back and he wanted to reach for Jack, to tell him to stop it already, that it could be dangerous. If something as strong as the Sentinel was guarding it, it could be stronger than anything they had ever encountered until that point. He decided against it. Jack could take care of himself, and Tim’s middle name wasn’t “Jack’s impulse control” after all. If he was commanded to stay put, he would obey, for better or for worse.

“What kinda weapon…” Jack murmured, reaching a tentative finger out to the symbol. Tim’s eyes widened as he realized that Jack would actually touch it, the idiot. He glanced at Athena, but she was just standing silently off to the side, watching the events unfold. Of course. She was just here to get the job done and get paid. No personal involvements on her side.

Tim looked back to Jack, just in time to see his index finger reach the Vault symbol.

Nothing happened for a second, and Tim had almost let out a sigh of relief, when the symbol started to spin and glow.

“Jack!” Tim warned, but Jack gave him no mind, still staring at the symbol, mesmerized by its light. Tim watched with wide eyes as the cracks in the walls and the weird markings on the ground lit up with pure energy, a low rumbling noise coming from deep inside the cave. Jack’s feet slowly lifted off the shaking ground, levitating a couple inches above the ground, as though suspended by invisible ropes.

“What the fuck,” Tim whispered, “what the fucking fuck.”

The rumbling grew louder, and the shaking of the ground became stronger as well. Tim struggled to stay on his feet, eyes still fixed on Jack, watching helplessly what was happening to him. Jack’s eyes were wide open, staring at the symbol. His face was slack, devoid of emotion, his lips slightly parted as he seemed to look _into_ the symbol. Tim watched in horror as darkness crept over his mismatched irises, completely engulfing the whites of his eyes as well.

The shaking suddenly stopped. Right underneath Jack, the ground rippled like water, spreading outwards in concentric circles. The shockwaves were glowing purple as well, and as they grew stronger, the ground seemed to melt away completely, giving way to stone pillars rising from underneath it, forming a throne. Tim stared at it, mouth agape, paralyzed by a mix of fear and awe, and watched as Jack’s body was slowly lowered onto it by those invisible tethers.

The symbol pulsed, its light suddenly much brighter, blinding Tim for a second. As the light faded, Tim could see the darkness over Jack’s eyes give way to a purple glow, matching the symbol. The symbol pulsed again, and Tim lifted his gun to prepare himself for any possible threat, but nothing came. The light seemed to reach out to Jack from the symbol, tendrils of purple-white energy boring themselves into Jack’s eyes. Tim was terrified – but Jack wasn’t screaming in pain, wasn’t asking for help. No, he… he laughed.

“Oh my god!” he cried, “I get it!”

He grabbed the armrests of the throne and leaned forward, as though he were trying to get closer to the symbol, see even clearer. Tim watched in confusion. What did he get? What was he seeing?

“I understand!” Jack continued, grinning like a maniac, “I understand everything!”

The rumbling grew even louder, at that point almost completely drowning out every other sound in the cave. There were new cracks appearing in the stone, and rocks were starting to fall from the ceiling as Jack laughed. It was chaos, everywhere but around him. Around the throne.

“What the fuck?” Tim screamed at Athena, hoping she would at least manage to read his words from his lips. She shrugged and shook her head, an obvious sign of _I don’t know_. She was standing in one place, gun pointing at Jack, but she was obviously not about to do anything.

Well, someone had to.

Tim had planned on simply running to the throne and somehow getting Jack away from it. Grabbing by the arm and yanking real hard was a strong contender. He did just that, but as he reached for Jack, an invisible force pushed him backwards. Tim stumbled but didn’t lose his footing and charged again. This time the shield around Jack threw him back, knocking the breath out of Tim. He fell on his back, hard, his head bouncing off the ground.

Everything was blurry for a few seconds. Tim sat up slowly, swearing under his breath and rubbing the tender spot on the back of his skull. He could feel a warm wetness spread on his fingers – blood. Fantastic. He blinked a couple times in rapid succession to clear his vision and got up, managing to stand on unstable legs. He looked around the cave. Athena was still standing off to the side, impassive and cold as stone, Jack was on the throne, the symbol’s weird light-tentacles still holding his eyes captive, and Lilith was walking angrily towards Jack –

Wait.

_LILITH?_

Tim stumbled in her direction, screaming at her to stop. He was slow, too slow, he could never reach her in time, but he had to try, because Lilith had tried to _kill_ Jack, not a day before, and she was obviously not there to kiss and make up. She had caught up to them. Her intentions were clear.

“Lilith!” Tim shouted, and drew his gun at her. His arm was too weak to manage a steady shot, but Lilith didn’t have to know that.

She turned back with an annoyed expression and a gun pointing between Tim’s eyes.

“I don’t have time for you, dear,” she drawled, and cocked her gun. Tim registered the sound a second too late, and the next thing he realized was searing pain in his right shoulder, his gun falling to the ground, his entire upper body twisting back from the force of the shot.

_Lilith had shot him_.

Tim staggered backwards, the momentum of the shot and his own unsteady footing making him nearly fall again. Fuck. He was useless now, concussed, without the use of his gun arm, and still way too far away.

He looked toward the throne, helpless, watching as Lilith walked up to the throne. Jack was still trapped by the light, he had no idea she was coming, couldn’t see the sure swing in her hips, her cruel smile. Lilith came to a stop just in front of Jack. Tim struggled to his knees, trying to gather his strength to go over there, to warn Jack, to _help_ …

The light slowly died down and the tendrils pulled away from Jack’s eyes. The purple glow lifted off them and Jack blinked, confused, trying to clear his vision. Tim let out a relieved sigh as he one again saw that familiar blue and green. Jack stared up at Lilith in confusion. He didn’t even have time to focus on her form before Lilith started talking.

“Heya, handsome,” she purred, and raised her fist.

“Wait!” Tim screamed, but he could do nothing to stop her.

Lilith’s fist reached the Vault symbol. According to all pre-existing rules of the universe, the hologram-like symbol should have simply given way to Lilith’s fist, like punching through water or a rainbow would. As the symbol instead moulded around her knuckles, Tim reminded himself that this was a Vault. Physics didn’t apply to things physics couldn’t understand.

Lilith’s fist connected with Jack’s jaw.

The ground shook with the force of the collision, and Tim lost his balance again, falling to the ground gracelessly as the literal explosion pushed him away. 

The first thing he could hear once the ringing in his ears stopped was Jack wailing in pain.

Tim looked up, just in time to see Lilith disappear. Anger rose in him as he pushed himself to his feet once again, adrenaline giving him the strength to stumble to Jack’s side. Jack was hurt, Lilith had hurt him, and he had to see, he had to know, had to help Jack – and Athena was still just fucking standing there like a goddamn statue, unaffected by everything. She hadn’t even try to stop Lilith. Tim wanted to interrogate him, asking why she would let her go, but he would have to deal with her later. For now, Jack needed him.

He fell to his knees next to Jack. He was lying on the ground, clutching at his face with both hands. Tim could see smoke rising from underneath his hands and could smell the burnt flesh. Whatever the symbol had done to Jack, it couldn’t be good. Tim touched Jack’s shoulder with a gentle hand, warning him of presence, shushing him as Jack winced in pain.

“Let me help,” Tim murmured, and gently grabbed Jack’s hands by the wrist. Jack let himself be pulled up into a sitting position, lowered his hands from his face.

“Fuck,” Tim gasped, as he saw what had happened to Jack. The Vault symbol had burned into his skin like a branding iron, the skin and flesh damaged and burnt, still smouldering. The downward arch of the symbol crossed his left eye, which was covered by a glassy, milk-coloured haze. Jack was staring blindly ahead.

“Timmy…” he started, his voice hoarse, breaking on just those two syllables, “Timmy, I can’t – I can’t see. I can’t see!”

Gods. Fuck no. Tim could hear the panic in Jack’s voice, the pained whimper slipping out as talking tugged on the wound. Shit. He had no idea if they would be able to fix this. To fix Jack. But he needed to reassure Jack.

“Shhh,” he murmured, not believing even himself, “it’s gonna be okay. We’ll get you help. Just tell me one thing… Why’d you do it? Why did you even _touch_ that symbol?”

Jacks hands scrambled to find Tim and grabbed onto his shoulders. Tim whimpered in pain as Jack’s hand dug into his wound but didn’t say anything, stared at Jack’s empty stare and maniacal smile.

“For power, pumpkin!” Jack laughed, “so much fucking power! And knowledge! God, your tiny head would _explode_ if you knew half of what I know now. I have a mission, Timmy! And you’ll be there with me, won’t you now? Won’t you, Timmy?”

Tim remained silent for a few moments. This was not his Jack. This _couldn’t_ be his Jack. This man was so different, only resembling the man Tim had grown to like, or, god forbid, love, in appearance. This was… A monster. A monster Lilith had created. Tim would kill her for it, wipe her and her lackeys off the face of the planet as revenge for killing _his_ Jack. Until then…

“Yes, Jack,” he whispered, wondering if he was making the greatest mistake of his life, “I’ll be with you.”

Maybe he could try to love this new Jack. Maybe he would stop missing the old one, eventually.

“Excellent,” Jack grinned, and turned to where he suspected Athena to be.

“You!” he yelled, “you’re gonna find me a doctor! We’re gonna fix me up and then we can get started!”

“With what?” Athena asked, doubt heavy in her voice. She stepped closer. Tim wanted to shoot her.

“Our mission! We’re gonna clean up Pandora. We’re gonna wipe out the bandits, we’re gonna restore peace, and then… _Then we’ll wake the Warrior_.”

“The Warrior?” She echoed.

“Oh, darling, yes,” Jack growled, “he’ll be the final step to the completion of my masterpiece. It’s gonna be so good… I just, GOD, I just can’t _wait_!”

“Jack,” Tim interjected, fearful, “what are you _talking about_?”

“A better world, cupcake,” Jack proclaimed, “my very own Paradise!”

“But –”

“No buts, dear! Now come on. We’ve got work to do.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading! comments and kudos are always welcome, and if you feel like it, hit me up on social media or check out my other works: [ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cardinal__sin) | [tumblr](https://cardinalxsin.tumblr.com/) | [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/cardinalxsin/) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/cardinalxsin)


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